Holiday Forecast: The Most Wanted Mann
By Craig Kennedy - July 1st, 2009; 12:01 am
The 4th of July holiday weekend sees the new wide releases rolling out today so we’re running the Weekend Forecast a day early.
Opening in wide release:
- Public Enemies. Though most are mainly positive so far, critics are divided into camps that either buy into Michael Mann’s mood piece or are left wishing there was more there there. Everyone agrees though that the cinematography and production design are stellar. Johnny Depp plays legendary outlaw John Dillinger. Marion Cotillard plays his girl and Christian Bale plays the man tasked with bringing him down. This is clearly a brainier movie than the summer dross it’s surrounded by, but is it too airy to hold up against the deeper competition coming in the fall?
- Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. I suppose it’s foolish to complain that the dinosaurs dawned and died a long time before woolly mammoths came along. This is a cartoon not a history lesson. As such, The first one was a joke-filled, sitcom-grade script punched up by some cutting edge (for its day) animation. It was likeable enough family fare, but instantly forgettable. This one hops on the 3-D bandwagon so the mediocrity will fly off the screen and give you a lap dance.
Opening in limited release:
- The Girl From Monaco (Fri. 7/3). Supposedly a hit in France, this one has all the makings of the sorts of European romantic comedies that informed Blake Edwards’ 10 or movies like Blame it on Rio, but there’s a darkness hanging over it from the very start and it takes a turn for the dramatic in the final act. Fabrice Luchini plays a successful defense attorney in the middle of an important, high profile case whose life is turned upside down when he falls for pretty, free-spirited weathergirl Louise Bourgoin. It’s an uneasy mixture of drama and light comedy, but in the end it actually works. When Ms. Bourgoin becomes a star (she’s already apparently drawing comparisons to Brigitte Bardot in France and she even sings one of her songs in the film), remember where you read her name first. The Girl From Monaco is modestly recommended.
- I Hate Valentine’s Day (Fri. 7/3). If you’re thinking we’ve already had one skippable Nia Vardalos romantic comedy this summer, you’re right. This time she isn’t just the star, she wrote and directed as well. What does that mean? It means we have no one to blame but her. Here she plays a florist with a strict “five dates” rule when it comes to romance, but when she meets her My Big Fat Greek Wedding costar John Corbett, she actually falls in love.
- The Beaches of Agnès (Wed. 7/1). Nouvelle Vague icon Agnès Varda’s documentary on Nouvelle Vague icon Agnès Varda.
Opening in New York:
- Lion’s Den (Fri. 7/3). Actually filmed within an Argentinean prison using other prisoners as extras, Lion’s Den tells the story of a pregnant inmate who must decide whether her baby would be better off with her in prison or without her on the outside.
- Tony Manero (Fri. 7/3). Set against the backdrop of the Pinochet dictatorship, Chile’s official selection for the Academy Awards (not nominated) tells the story of a 50-year old man obsessed with John Travolta’s character from Saturday Night Fever and the lengths he goes through to win a Tony Manero impersonation contest. It sounds like a comedy, but it’s a crime drama.
Coming to Los Angeles:
- I Bring What I Love: Youssou N’Dour (Fri. 7/3). This musical documentary about Youssou N’Dour and the controversy surrounding his Islam themed Egypt album makes its way to Los Angeles. Read the LiC review here.
Last week was the 50th anniversary of the first recording session of Take Five by The Dave Brubeck Quartet. If there’s a better reason to make something the Weekend Forecast musical sponsor, I can’t think of one.
Here’s a performance from 1961. It’s the height of West Coast Cool, baby.
Filed under: Weekend Forecast
PUBLIC ENEMIES is an intriguing choice, but I am particularly interested in two of the New York exclusives that you note here: LION’S DEN and TONY MANERO. Despite numerous re-viewings, I just don’t care for the films of Agnes Varda. Perhaps I’m not alone on that count.
Of course, towering above all other choices in my own home will be none other than ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS. The 3 D experiment is really pushing the envelope though.
I was hoping for a stronger July 4th lineup.
Love that Dave Brubeck TAKE FIVE!!!
We have Moon and Departures opening here, along with Public Enemies. I will make Moon my priority but considering we’re getting our first heat wave of the year I might take in Public Enemies too. We have company this weekend so my movie-going will be limited.
Curious to note that this biggest box office draw of the year shed half it’s screens here in Portland in just one week. Obviously Paramount was counting on a towering opening weekend and now they’re moving on. Transformers 2 is still playing a lot of theaters, but in most multiplexes it’s now down to one screen from two or three.
I see you’ve had a busy commenting morning Sam!
I’m having a hard time getting up for Tony Manero (if it ever even comes to LA), but I’m sure it’s better than it sounds.
Where does Ice Age stack up for you Sam in the panoply of family movies you end up taking the kiddies to?
If I were your personal assistant Joel, I’d schedule your choices in this order: Moon, Public Enemies and Departures.
Craig, it appears that the three youngest seem most excited about it, while th eelder two (13,12) less so. This is precisely what I envisioned, but I’m sure I’ll b eescorting everyone at some point in the upcoming days. The reviews this morning for ICE AGE were not as bad as I expected, but I am not excited myself.
If I ever require a PA, Craig, I hereby give you the right to punch me in the neck. But thanks for the input! I shall heed your advice.
I have no doubt the young’uns will like it Sam, but how is it for you? I actually disliked the first one. It wasn’t painful and if I had kids I’d take them willingly, but compared even to Shrek it was pretty low rent.
I know, people love Shrek. Don’t pounce on me.
That ice ‘lap dance’ write-up had me laughing in my seat. Good stuff, Craig. Oh and witty post Title. Good stuff all around.
Most anything Jeff Wells goes into uber-critical orgasms over almost can be scientifically proven to not be a good film. MIAMI VICE comes to mind…I respect Mann’s attempt at his style but find his stoic, humorless Mann-liness a total bore. And with scenes in COLLATERAL and MV, laugh out loud bad. The HD looks awful to boot.
I’ve been anticipating Public Enemies since last year, and now that it’s here all I want anyone to do is just shut up and let me see it. Unfortunately that sounds like the case with Avatar in a few months, too.
I’m going to be in Las Vegas again (my girlfriend’s family is there, it’s not like I go there all the time to gamble…I swear…) for the holiday weekend and will probably see Public Enemies there, thus marking (I think) the first movie I’ve seen in a theater since June 14 – that’s shocking.
I never did see Departures, Joel – my interest waned as time went on. But what I’ve heard has been mostly lukewarm to warm.
I did see Lion’s Den at MSPIFF here in April and buried a mini review here. It’s pretty harrowing and holds up well on the back of the lead actress, who I believe only has one other screen credit. She has to be a star on the rise, and if she wasn’t actually pregnant during this movie, well they could have fooled me. I’m pretty sure those weren’t all body doubles.
The movie didn’t wrap up in the way that I would have preferred and the narrative wavered a little, but those are minor complaints. I’d be curious as to where you’d land on it, Sam, but my gut is that you’d find it no worse than 3 stars.
Outstanding musical sponsor, too!
Thanks Sam. K, always good to hear from you.
I’m with you Christian, but I’m trying to remain open minded. The cut I saw in a February test-screening (Never doing one of those again…ever) was not great, but hopefully they fixed it.
You’ve got me intrigued about Lion’s Den now Daniel.
Oh Johnny Johnny JOHNNY…
I find it interesting that Kim Masters thinks that PUBLIC ENEMIES is going to underperform.
I dunno about that necessarily.
My home town possesses a lot of passionate movie lovers. For a lot of people this will be a long weekend and they’ll be off with lots of time on their hands. It’s also (of course) PE’s opening weekend.
Funny how they seemed to inextricably coincide…
Anyway…
I’m willing to bet that it will be a dificult movie to get into within the next few days up here. So I’m all ready plotting strategies.
I’m a long way from being a Michael Mann aficionado. But the combination of JOHNNY and MARION (especially with him playing a dangerous gangster of relentless glamour) is just too delicious to pass up.
I also intend to see CHERI by the end of the weekend (it opened here last Friday) and the classic DOCTOR ZHIVAGO is playing at my prized film festival theatre next week.
Going to be an awesome summer.
Baby, let the good times roll…
I think she means underperform relative to it’s large budget and I think she might have a point. Even the most glowing reviews paint this as an art film and not one that’s going to appeal to the kind of mass audience it’ll need to really light up the box office.
But does it matter? If you see it and love it and no one else does, it doesn’t change anything does it?
One word, Craig: NO.
But it seems as if the reviews for PE are decidedly mixed and I’m no Mann fangirl.
It’s amazing to me. Commenters on blogs and boards are saying that the HD bothered them. Hah hah. That doesn’t appear to be a good sign.
I adore this type of film. I love JOHNNY and MARION. However, when I exit the cinema I could be quite cool on everything BUT the performances.
You never know until the lights come up.
I’m still very excited. But my expectations are firmly in check.
I’m skeptical about the HD myself. It has its good points and it has its bad points, but a couple of the scenes at night in the unfinished version of the film I saw simply didn’t look good. Maybe my eye is just too used to film in a theater and video on TV that I can’t break the association. I had a few issues with Zodiac too.
In both cases I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and it’s just a matter of adjustment, but we’ll see.